Amber Alert is Overused, Says Scripps Study

By: E&P Staff Scripps Howard News Service today moved a study that found police are overusing the Amber Alert system.

The SHNS study was done by Tom Hargrove, who reported that the problem is so widespread that there's fear the public will tune out the alerts even when children are in danger.

Amber Alerts -- which started in the 1990s after the kidnapping and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman -- are designed to be activated during the critical first minutes after children have been abducted by strangers.